I know it's weird but I honestly love long car rides - including if I'm not the only one driving (hehe) but also going at it by myself and getting some good alone time to think. One of the things I most look forward to in long car rides is the SNACKS. Here are some of my favorite ones to bring as well as what I like to buy along the way.

Square Organics Protein Bars: Square Organics chocolate coated protein bars are GOOD. They are really a treat. My favorite is Coconut in the blue pack. I like to eat 1/2 the bar at a time- they are filling!

Baby Carrots: Sometimes you just need to munch to keep your brain awake when driving for a long time! You don't have to worry too much about baby carrots going bad- and they're so easy to find at any store. Of course if you can, bring an insulated lunch box to hold the carrots when you're not eating them.

Hummustir: Hummustir is pretty great - you just have to mix the ingredients together (they come all packaged) whenever you're ready to eat it - so you don't have to refrigerate ahead of time! This does make a good AMOUNT of hummus- so I would suggest using this one if you're in the car with others (too tempting otherwise!). ALSO! Use code COLLEG20 (no second "E" there) for 20% off your order on Amazon!

SNACKS TO BUY:

Now of course if you're like me you'll have to stop sometimes to go to the bathroom (!) and also get some additional yummy snacks. Here's what I stick with.

Ice cream: That's right I said it! Especially at fast food restaurants like Micky Ds, ice cream in the smallest size is pretty low in calories, delicious, and easy to find. At McDonald's I like to get the Sundae with chocolate sauce - no peanuts (I like peanuts, but they don't add enough goodness for me to eat them).

Chicken nuggets: Another good food that's easy to find AND easy enough to eat in the car is chicken fingers/ nuggets. I of course don't love the extra breading, but they're definitely filling, and lower in starchy carbs than other fast food snack options like fries.

One of my favorite things is to find a convenience food that's both healthy and easy to prepare. I also am totally loving all new veggie products that sub for starchy foods (like grains and potatoes). Which is why I loooove Trader Joe's new Frozen Cauliflower Pizza!

Here are some pros & cons:

Note: My boyfriend and I also tried the frozen cauliflower crust ONLY - and this was much easier & tastier to eat

PROS:

Taste: tastes just like a regular frozen pizza - salty, but not too salty, just the right amount of sauce & cheese. You couldn't tell the crust was anything out of the ordinary

Price: $4.99 - this is pretty good comparable to other Trader Joe's pizzas - I also get the Ancient Grain pizza ($4.49)

Nutrition Facts: Decent, honestly more calories than I would like (760 for the whole pizza) - but this still saves you about 20% of the calories from other pizzas! (E.g. 930 calories for the Ancient Grain pizza). This pizza is also gluten free for those who are gluten-averse.

Ease of Use: Very easy - pre-heated the oven to 425 & baked on a Canola Oil sprayed pan for 12 minutes

Is it filling? YES! 3/4 of the pizza does the trick for me for a full meal. If you want it for 2 meals (probably preferable) - pair it with a side of veggies like baby carrots

CONS:

Nutrition Facts: Like I said, I would have preferred if it were lower calories. Also, there are a lot of other carbs/ starches in the crust besides cauliflower, which I know must be necessary from a food science standpoint, but I don't love it